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Chapter I: Decamillenium
Codex Commanders * Overview Chapter I, Part I: * The sewers, full of crocodiles and vermin, eventually pour the players out into the middle of the Korozda, the Maze of Decay. An immense, circular maze of overgrown, fungus-encrusted ruins, high above the fungal walls the players can see the Golgari guildhall Svogthos, however as they get close it appears to lift up and move further south, away from the party. * Making their way through toxic spores, giant insects, and shrieking mushrooms, the adventurers eventually come to a large open clearing know as the Dark Heart of the Wood, a settlement of Devkarin elves, a subgroup of the Golgari guild, led by their matka ("Mother") Savra. Through direct or indirect means the players learn that Savra has captured an elf, believing them to be an agent of the current Golgari guild leaders, the Sisters of Stone Death, and responsible for the recent attacks on the surface. * Here the party is able to shop from the camp, afterwards they mount their large lizardlike "Brownscales", the Devkarin head further south, with their hostage in chains, to confront the sisters. * Either accompanying Savra, or on their own, the players head deeper south following the restlessly moving tomb, which they now see crawls across the moss covered ruins with long pulsating tendrils of dark colored vines. * As the tall walls of fungal ruins fade, opening up into fields of rot farm, the players are attacked by plant zombies known as Dreg Manglers, causing any Brownscales with the party to go stampeding ahead and out of sight. * Following their tracks they find the lizards dead and gutted in front of the tomb Svogthos, which sits unmoving atop several fallen pillars rising out of the muck, its doors wide, showing only darkness within. Feasting upon the brownscales are a large pair of rotwurms. Savra and her elves are nowhere to be seen. * Getting past the wurms and into the tomb, the adventurers are met by the first of three gorgon sisters, Ludmilla. Unexpectedly diplomatic and polite she approaches the players openly, wearing a cloth shawl to hide her petrifying visage, she explains to the players that Savra has come under the influence of a vampire and has come to Svogthos to resurrect the Golgari parun Svogthir, asking for help she hears the cry of another from upstairs and without another word attempts to push past the players and head upstairs. * The players may turn on her or assist her, either way the go upstairs to find two more gorgon sisters, one cradling the lifeless body of the other in her arms on the floor, as several Devkarin stand in a circle protecting their matka. * Behind them stands Savra high atop a stone coffin, looking down at the prisoner from earlier, now bound and gagged, chained to the top of the stone. Ignoring all around her, Savra slits the throat of the prisoner as the stone coffin violently shakes, throwing her to the ground. * All the torches within the tomb go out as darkness takes over the room, the coffin continues to rumble until finally the loud crashing of stone gives way to a long silence. Eventually, the skittering of sharp claws can be heard outside the tomb as a sickly sweet smell grows stronger until finally a torch is lit to reveal half a dozen large mortipedes crawling on the walls and ceiling above them, Savra and the prisoner have disappeared, leaving behind the Devkarin, the sisters, and the adventurers to their skittering fate. If the players turned on Ludmilla, the only surviving sister, Lexya, takes this chaotic oppurtunity to attack them, otherwise Lexya dies when trying to escape the Tomb, leaving only Ludmilla alive. Chapter I, Part II: * Upon escaping Svogthos and the swarm, the tomb sinks into the muck taking the remaining insects and Devkarin with it. Depending on earlier player decisions, either Ludmilla or a sole surviving Devkarin guard tell the players of Savra's plans to unite the Golgari and Selesnya against the other guilds, encouraging them to travel to the Vitu-Ghazi and seek council with the dryad conclave. * Escorted by their survivor, they resurface near the Boros District Centerfort, east of Sunhome. If the players separated from Argus Kos earlier, they are reunited along with becoming introduced to his ally Tolsimir Wolfblood, an elvish preacher of Selesnya and skilled wolfrider. * Taking a much needed rest, the players and their allies stay at the Oak Street Inn, offering them a chance to buy and sell wares, enjoy a hot meal, and get a night's sleep. In the morning Tolsimir, believing the adventurers to be sent to him by Mat'Selenya and offers them training and weapons from his camp in Kasarna, the Selesnya training ground for the Quiet-men. * If the players accept this offer from Tolsimir they spend a week training with Tolsimir, gaining a new or upgrade Command slot, along with an uncommon rarity equipment or companion to go in that slot. Near the end of their training (or if they declined Tolsimir's offer) they are introduced to a member of the Quiet-men, immediately recognizing their robes as the same being worn by those fleeing the explosion of Tin-Street and the prisoner in the tomb. * Tolsimir, reacting to this revelation, gives the players two riding mounts and a wagon, asking them to ride west to Vitu-Ghazi with this information while he rides north to gather reinforcements. Arriving at the city-tree the players find it under attack by Selesnya's own siege wurms, a glow of blue coming out from behind their armored heads indicating the use of mind-control, hundreds of citizens flee in all directions as Vitu-Ghazi creaks and begins to tilt against the wurm's assault. * Half way through the fight with the wurm's, Tolsimir and his reinforcements arrive to help make short work of the rest. Turning to go beneath the city-tree in search of the dryad conclave a large rumbling is heard as a massive Autochthon Wurm bursts out of the ground nearby, uprooting the city-tree, and attacking Tolsimir's forces. Telling the players to run and get to the conclave as Tolsimir engages in battle with the great wurm. * Going deep below the earth, picking their way through the collapsed tunnels of the uprooted temple, the players are attacked by dryads, their eyes the same blue glow as the wurms. * Eventually they make it to the lower chamber, where a dark cloaked figure sits hunched over the unconscious form of a beautiful woman made of leaves and wood, a bright golden glow radiating from her, that appears to be slowly fading before your eyes. Between this scene and the entrance to the room stands three other dryads, their forms limp and eyes glazed over as if in a trance. * The cloaked figure, noticing the players, wipes the corner of their mouth on their sleeve and snaps his fingers, awakening the three dryads in the middle of the room, their eyes glowing a dark blue, before he turns back to his prize. The dryads attack the players, defending the vampire. The players must attempt to interrupt the vampire without killing the dryads whose life essence is the only thing keeping Mat'Selesnya alive. Chapter I, Part III: * Upon defeating the vampire, shit hits the fan, Argus Kos steps in to deal the final non-lethal blow and apprehends the vampire, arresting him to face the law and the countless citizens he wronged, when asked his name the vampire smiles madly and simply says "Szadek of House Dimir" at the sound of these words two things happen: First a cold feeling comes across everyone in the room, as if a warm blanket that had been with them their whole lives was suddenly ripped off, leaving them exposed to the cold night air. Second, the underground chamber begins to collapse as the players, along with their allies and the imprisoned vampire, escape back up the tunnel. * Upon exiting they discover Tolsimir and the handful of those who survived the fight with the wurm, standing ready with their backs up against the fallen city-tree. Seeing Tolsimir, Argus asks the elf "More wurms?" to which Tolsimir replies "No, I don't think so." At this, Szadek laughs a shrill maniacal laugh as strange massive hands of grey and orange come out of the massive hole left behind by the wurm. * Large muscular arms of loose grey skin with thick veins beneath them pull up a creature that is more mouth than face. It's hairy slug-like body crawls, hunched over, pointing its massive mouth, teeth and gums exposed, towards the players. Its long tongue rolling back and forth tasting the ground as an unending stream of drool drips from its massive maw. Above this mouth, it wears a strange skull-like mask that is to small for its bulbous body, as the image of this abomination begins to sink in it clears its guttural throat and begins to speak in a strange deep voice, each word sounding like a regurgitation rather than speech. * Introducing itself as the Witch-Maw and proclaiming the end of days for the lesser races and their pathetic civilization. When the battle begins to turn against the creature it cries out for help from its sister, summoning the Yore-Tiller to aid in his fight. The strange elemental being is made out of warped natural elements, giving it an ancient and primordial look, its body is little more than a floating nest of rock with two great trees making up its legs, connected by white tendrils, its face is a large stone sphere floating above the nest, with the shape of a young child carved upon its surface. Strange pods of cloth hang from its sides, swaying with each massive step. * Eventually the players bring down these monstrosities, causing the onlooking citizens of the town to cheer for them from the balconies and windows surrounding the ruins of Vitu-Ghazi. Szadek, making no attempt to flee during the battle, the Dimir guild leader is taken by the players and Argus Kos to the Tenth District to await trial as their march becomes a sort of parade, as the people of Ravnica celebrate their victory on the day of the Decamillenium, with very few of them still worrying about that strange feeling that came over them following Szadek's words. * Far away from the cheering crowds, in the center of Ravnica known as the Transguild Promenade, the great stone base of the Pillar of Paruns suddenly glowed a brilliant white before a large crack made its way from between the Selesnya and Boros symbols across to the newly appeared symbol of House Dimir. Suddenly the entire structure collapses inwards on itself as the magical force known as the Guildpact, the very force that has shaped and protected the people of Ravnica for ten-thousand years, is broken.